


Death Complicates Things

by TaraHarkon



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Gen, Liches, Major Character Undeath, Resurrection, Undeath
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-09
Updated: 2019-07-09
Packaged: 2020-06-25 01:47:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19735882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaraHarkon/pseuds/TaraHarkon
Summary: Barry needs to get the Animus Bell back. Edward and Lydia have it. He has a cloning machine. Clearly, they can come to some sort of agreement.





	Death Complicates Things

The thing about all of this was that Barry really didn't, at bottom, want to be getting the Animus Bell back from anyone. He shouldn't have it in the slightest. He was, in fact, one of the last people on this plane who should have access to the power of the Animus Bell. But between that and what was bound to happen with Lucretia trying to gather the Grand Relics back together? He was alright with reclaiming his Relic to avoid that. After all, if the Hunger found them again, it wouldn't matter who had the Animus Bell in their hands.

And if Luce turned out to be right? Then he would have it ready to hand over instead of her having to go into Wonderland. Again.

So, he left himself a set of important notes just in case this plan went badly and set off for Wonderland with his secret weapon already prepared. He'd been able to do a little digging into the twin owners of that place. They were a pair of elves so familiar it hurt, even with all of his memories in tact. So much so that he was glad he'd never stumbled in there without his memories. He could not be held accountable for the stupid things his body got up to when not all of his mind was there and there was no question to him that he would have ended up trailing after them like a lost puppy looking for the answer of the weight in his chest that he only knew was for Lup when he was dead. At least as a lich, he would know better. 

There was no door marked for Barry Bluejeans when he arrived at Wonderland. He watched another enter, clearly seeing a door meant for them, but there was none for him. Understandable, really. If he were an evil lich, he wouldn't want other liches entering his domain. That sort of thing was dangerous after all. If he wanted to take their domain away from them, he was more than capable. Luckily for the twins inside, though, he just wanted to make a trade.

Barry reached into Wonderland, the emotions that suffused the place palpable even out here. That sort of energy was more than enough for him to craft his own door on the outside of the tent. It was uncomfortable to use all of that suffering and it left him feeling slimy at best, but he could deal with that later. Slipping inside, he closed that door behind him. Time to find the twins and get what he was here for.

Edward and Lydia were aware of it the moment another lich entered their domain and neither of them were sure what to do. They could just ignore it and hope that, whoever they were, they would leave. But really, that wasn't their style. And it was a risk. Anything was a risk, really. So rather than ignore what they were sensing, they went to find this intruder. What they found was a red robe lich with a level of power they had never seen before, including in themselves. 

Barry looked them over, two specters in black robes under their glamours. He didn't bother with such things. He knew what he was and he had no reason to hide. Particularly not behind his own face just now. He nodded to both of them in greeting.

"You have something that belongs to me." He raised a hand before either of them could object. "I'm not going to just take it. That would be rude. And I'm sure you had to go through a lot to get it. No, I'm offering you a trade. I understand there's someone you're missing. I have the power to recreate his body and call his soul and I'll do it for you. _If_ you give me back the Animus Bell."

Whatever the twins were expecting, this wasn't it. The spell energy they were both holding in readiness dissipated and Lydia took a step forward.

"You're bluffing."

A slow smile crossed Barry's face.

"Am I?" He gestured broadly, just a touch of dramatics in his own presentation. He needed to convince them, needed to out do them. And he was more than capable. All he had to do was mimic a century of Lup and Taako. There was no one in any world who could out do those two. "His name was Keats. And he was your brother. He died of a plague that spread to your home town even though you tried to escape it. And somehow, you two never caught it. The healers told you they couldn't cure it but you tried anyway. You ended up studying necromancy and became liches after his death. Shall I go on?"

Edward held his hands up, a placating gesture as Lydia stepped back to his side and very nearly behind. 

"Alright, alright, you know things. But you really think you can get him back when we've failed countless times?"

Barry shrugged.

"I've got something you don't have. Now, I'm sure you have a locket or something with a bit of his hair, right?"

Lydia's hand went to the necklace she always wore and her yelled at him, tears stinging her eyes.

"How could you possibly know that?"

He shrugged.

"Lucky guess. Give me that and I'll be back in three months with your brother. Then either you give me the Animus Bell or I take him with me again when I leave. It's up to you."

Barry cast a mage hand into existence, holding it out to Lydia. For a long moment, she hesitated, just holding the locket tight in her hands.

"You swear. You swear on whatever, on _whoever_ , you hold dear that you'll do this? That you're not lying?"

For a moment, red sparks skittered across his spectral form but then Barry nodded.

"I swear it on my love of my wife. Three months, you get your brother, I get the Animus Bell."

Lydia looked down, squeezing the locket once more. Then she nodded and dropped it into his waiting mage hand. Edward put an arm around his sister's shoulders.

"You'd better keep your promise," he started.

The other lich only stared at him, darkness under a red robe with lightning flickering over him.

"I swore, didn't I?"

And then he was gone.

* * *

The first thing he did was get rid of the locket itself. He didn't need that, just the hair contained within. And luckily for him, these particular elves were old-fashioned. Or just old. He didn't care which. What he did care about was that they had also tucked a small amount of the boy's blood into the locket. It had long since dried, of course, but it was something else he could add to the cloning tank. After that, revivification and re-ensoulment would be nothing. 

He set aside his own samples, knowing he wouldn't need them for some time, and started working on getting everything else he would need. Honestly, most of it couldn't be done until the last minute. Until then, he had a couple months to spend looking for Lup and maybe catching up on some reading. Or he could see if he could find Taako. Really, he had quite a few options ahead of him. 

The vat was ready now and he introduced the new samples, observing the solution to make sure it was taking properly. He smiled slowly, glad that it was. Soon enough, he would have this sorted out. Then, with the Animus Bell in hand, he could confront Lucretia. He would never use it on her, of course. But she needed it for whatever she was doing. Probably her own plan, if he was being honest with himself. And that would give him leverage. He could make her fix this. 

* * *

Very nearly three months later, he'd gathered an outfit of the appropriate size and some food that would keep, just enough to make a few meals out of so he didn't have to bring Keats directly to Wonderland. The poor boy would need a moment to adjust to his return to life, at least. The next step would be locating the boy's soul within the Astral Plane. The biggest risk there would be accidentally alerting the Grim Reaper to his activities. Honestly, he was already taking several risks having been out of a corporeal form for so long. He could take a few more. 

Settling himself, he closed his eyes and began to focus. The problem with attempting to contact an extraplanar being was that the human mind was fairly fragile and the planes were... well... not. And all the spell took to cast was concentration and an incantation. And, of course, a minute without fucking up either.

Any slip and this would be over. But he could feel the spell settling over him now and the pathway open. If he was going to lose his mind to the gibbering abyss, this would be the point. Instead, he found himself looking at a spectral child, no more than ten or twelve years old.

"Hello there. Is your name Keats?"

The little spirit nodded, looking Barry over curiously.

_"You're dead but you're not in the Astral Sea. What are you?"_

That was very not how this spell was supposed to work, at least not in his experience. Barry had always been under the impression that he should only get one word answers or maybe short phrases. This? This was sizing up to be a full conversation.

"I'm a lich. My name is Barry. I was looking for you, Keats. Your brother and sister miss you."

The little boy's face absolutely lit up at that.

_"Really? Eddie said he'd make sure I was alright. I just had to wait and I'd see. Is this what he meant?"_

Barry looked down for a moment, glad that his skeletal form hid his emotions.

"Yeah, buddy. That's what he meant." Holding out his hand, Barry reached towards the boy. "I cast a circle earlier. You should be able to step through this spell to me. Just grab my hand, alright? Then I can take you home."

Keats reached out through the planes and their hands met. Then Barry tugged and the little boy popped through into the material world. For now, he was still a spirit, still just a memory of the boy he had been. Soon enough, though, his body would be ready and he would be able to enter it. As Barry dismantled the spell around him, cutting off the Astral Plane's access to this hidden sanctum, he checked his perimeter for any signs that the Reaper had noticed. Nothing... nothing. Hopefully, something was distracting him.

* * *

Just a few more hours and the body in the tank would be done cooking. Cooking was, of course, a metaphor. If it was cooking, they'd have a lot of problems and Keats wouldn't have a living body to enter. So, more accurate to say it was growing. Barry had already laid out the clothes he'd gotten for Keats where he would be able to dress quickly. 

"It's almost ready, kiddo. You ready to go see your brother and sister again?"

Keats was hovering near the tank, looking into the green brackish fluid.

"That's really me in there?"

Barry shrugged a little. After a while of doing this, he was pretty divorced from the idea of the flesh he wore being him but well...

"It will be soon. Once you're in there."

Keats nodded and kept staring into the fluid. That was about when Barry realized that the boy hadn't actually answered his question.

"Keats?"

One ear flicked and then Keats looked back.

"Yeah, Mr Barry?"

Barry blinked a few times at that. No one had ever called him _Mr Barry_ and it felt odd. But he pressed onwards.

"Aren't you excited to go home?"

Keats nodded a little, overly long ears bouncing despite his incorporeal state. Sometimes, souls were just like that. They remembered being in a body a little too well. 

"Well, yeah. I mean... it's just. It's been a really long time since I saw either of them, you know? Like a really really long time. And I guess I'm kind of scared."

Barry hovered above his desk and he gestured at a spot beside him. Keats joined him, pulling his knees up to his chest. Even for a ghost, Keats was pale. Barry had to wonder how long this kid had been sick that his soul knew he should be pale and with dark circles under his eyes. 

"Listen, kiddo. They obviously love you. They're willing to... to do a lot to get you back. So, what's there to be scared about? It's been... I mean, not as long, but it's been a while since I last saw my family but... but if I could see them again right now? I'd drop everything to be with them again."

Keats looked up a little, a smile brightening his face.

"Really?"

"Really really, kiddo."

There was a quiet ding and the tank in the corner began to glow in both of their vision.

"And that's your cue. Hop in, Keats. I'll be right here when you get out. And I'll make sure you get a solid meal before we take you home."

Keats hugged Barry as tightly as he could. ("Since I won't be able to in a minute.") And then he zipped off towards the tank in the corner, intent on his return to life. Barry counted down in his head and then opened the tank door, letting Keats stumble out without breaking the tank. The boy looked confused for a moment but then he grabbed the trousers Barry had left on the chair for him and started dressing.

"How you feeling, kid?"

There was a note of worry in Barry's voice. Keats was still pale, still had dark circles under his eyes. Some part of him was worried that the boy was still sick despite everything. Sure, the tank should have purged any trace of poison or disease... but...

Keats looked up, a huge smile on his face despite the shadows there. Like this, Barry could really see just how young he was, how small, how frail. Life had robbed him of so much. It wasn't fair. He tugged a pale shirt on over his head and shook out his dark hair. It was still damp with the fluid and he giggled.

"I feel great! I haven't felt this good in... in... in ever!"

Barry couldn't help but smile at the little boy. He had so much energy, so much joy. He could see why Edward and Lydia wanted their little brother back so very badly. Turning away, he went to the crate by the door. He'd kept it cool by the simple expediency of magic and now he could use a mage hand to set the small bottle of milk and some bread and cheese on the table. Then he set about slicing up the sausage and heating it up.

"Well, you can look forward to a whole lifetime of feeling that good. And I've got it on uh... on very good authority that elves like you live a real long time."

Keats sat at the table, pulling the long chair up as far as he could. Taking a long swig from the bottle, he looked up at Barry again.

"Did my brother and sister tell you that?"

Barry could've laughed.

"No, no. My uh... my wife. She's an elf like you. I'm human. It's okay though, we worked that part out."

Keats giggled, making a mess with crumbs of bread. Then he looked sheepish and starting cleaning them up. That was about when he noticed all of the maps strewn around just beyond the little cleared space where he was eating.

"Mr Barry? What's all this?"

Barry looked down.

"Ah." For a long moment he was quiet. "Remember how uh... how I said I'd really like to find my... my family?" When Keats nodded, he continued on. "My wife disappeared a few years ago and I'm looking for her. Those maps are the best clues I've got."

Keats leaned forward, examining the maps but carefully not touching them with his grubby hands.

"What about all the black circles? Does that have to do with it too?"

Again, Barry nodded with a soft sigh. He hated thinking about those circles, about the destruction, the relics, the damage they'd done, how much it had hurt Lup. And that was the crux of it, wasn't it? That none of them had seen what it was doing to Lup. That none of them but her and Lucretia had really cared what it was doing to the world. Better than the Hunger, they'd said. Well, not by much.

"It... it does, yeah. I was using those to track her. But they stopped showing up a while ago and I don't know what that means."

Keats' ears flicked down and he looked up at Barry, mouth slightly open and eyes wide.

"Do you think she-?"

Barry cut the boy off with a look, lightning briefly sparking on his skin as he tried to tamp it back down.

"No, no, she's... she's a lich too. And we're... I'd... I'd know if something happened to her." He closed his eyes for a moment and then turned away. "I'm going to clean up and get something else going in the tank. Why don't you finish eating and I'll take you home. Alright?"

Keats nodded again and put his head down, ears flicked back but focusing on his meal. Barry could tell he'd made the boy nervous but there was nothing he could do about that now.

* * *

It wasn't until they were at the path that led up to Wonderland that Barry realized he hadn't explained about Edward and Lydia. Keats deserved to know what his brother and sister had become since he had... been gone. He no doubt remembered them as living, breathing elves. No doubt as loving siblings. Barry wasn't sure what they were now beyond liches. He didn't know who they had been or who they had become. Though, he had guesses. He knew how many people went to Wonderland and how many never came back.

And Keats was running ahead of him now, charging blindly down the black and white checkered path towards the people he still thought of as family. All Barry could do was follow and hope he wasn't making a mistake.

There was a door with his name on it this time. Barry Bluejeans written in stark lettering above a darkened entry way. Barry looked it over, sighing at their dramatics.

"Stay close to me, Keats. Alright?"

Keats looked up at him questioningly.

"Why? There's nothing here dangerous, right? It's just Eddie and Lyds, right?"

Barry didn't have the heart to say that they might be dangerous. He didn't have the heart to say they might not be who Keats remembered. He needed to get the Animus Bell back and this boy was the cost. And that's all there was to it.

As they stepped inside, the lights suddenly came up and a banner appeared across the back wall. 'Welcome home' it read in giant letters so bright it was nearly eye-searing. Edward and Lydia appeared just as suddenly, tears on Lydia's face and Edward's arms wide.

"Keats! Keats, baby brother, you're home."

Barry watched this scene feeling odd, distant. And he missed Lup and Taako and everyone else so much more. But he put on the face from before and cast a mage hand across the room.

"The bell first."

Keats looked startled but Edward immediately dropped the Animus Bell into Barry's mage hand without a second thought. Then Barry gave Keats a little shove.

"Go. And... good luck, kid. Stay safe, alright?"

Barry examined the Animus Bell for a moment, immediately feeling the waves of crave-ability coming off of it. The crave waves. This was definitely his relic. When he looked down, he realized Keats was still looking up at him. Barry sighed and gestured at the bell.

"I needed this to find my family and your brother and sister had it. We made a deal. That's it. Now go on, you get to have a life. So don't... don't waste it."

Keats hesitated for just a moment more and then he ran to Edward and Lydia. He would find out what they were later. He would find out who they had become much, much later. But by then things would be coming to the close.

* * *

It wasn't until after the Hunger was truly gone that Barry found himself thinking about Keats again. He was in the Astral Plane, flipping through a book of bounties when he suddenly remembered the bright eyed boy who he had stolen from the Astral Plane and brought to Wonderland. Was there a bounty for him, he wondered? Had Edward and Lydia managed to overcome who they had been to keep him safe and happy? Or had they all been lost when the Hunger arrived. He had no idea.

The master bounty book would be able to tell him a few things at least. He would know if Edward and Lydia were still on the outside, he would know if Keats had a bounty in his name, he would know if Wonderland was still operating. But he wouldn't know much else.

When he arrived in the hall where the master bounty book was kept, he was startled to find the Raven Queen herself standing there waiting for him, resplendent in shadow and bone. She inclined her head in greeting and he bowed deeply.

"My Queen. To what do I owe the uh... the honor?"

"I understand you inquire after the boy Keats, my reaper. I wished to have a word with you regarding his place in the tapestry woven by my love."

He nodded and she gestured towards an ebon bench and sat as he did.

"You feel some guilt, do you not? For your part in his return to life. Do not."

That set Barry on his heels and he looked up at her in surprise.

"My Queen? I don't understand. I thought... I thought I would be in trouble for that. Even though it was before my pardon... but uh..."

The Raven Queen's chuckle was like the rattle of bones and the cawing of ravens on a moonless night. She reached for the book the floated to her, knowing its mistress and obeying her call. 

"My dear Reaper, his return was fated to happen someday. Though, I admit, not quite like this. But then, Istus did have quite the time plotting the seven of you into her tapestry. She does so enjoy surprises." She leaned back, the raven skull mask she wore somehow still concealing the face beneath. "Understand, that even if you had not stolen him, they would have found another to do it. That you did ensure it was done safely and well. And that the boy had the best chances. The rest is up to him."

Barry nodded slowly. He appreciated knowing he hadn't done the wrong thing at least. That his actions had been planned for on the cosmic scale.

"How uh... how is he now? Did he make it through the Hunger?"

The Raven Queen's smile was nearly imperceptible beneath her mask.

"His brother and sister protected him with all of their amassed power. He is quite unharmed. And rather impressed with your story now that he knows all of it."

Barry smiled in return. It really was a heck of a story when you heard it instead of living it, he supposed. He'd even seen a stage production of it, though that had been a bit ridiculous. He could understand how a kid would be impressed.

"That's good. I'm glad. He deserves a good life. He... he's a good kid. Even if I only knew him for a little while."

Quiet hung between them for a long moment before Barry could find the words for his next question.

"My Queen, what about his brother and sister?"

The Raven Queen nodded slowly. She had been expecting this question from her Reaper. 

"They continue to have bounties in their names. Though, so long as they do not harm another and they continue to care for the boy properly, I have instructed Reaper Kravitz not to pursue that bounty. You did quite a bit of good for them in taking the Animus Bell from their possession, my Reaper."

That made Barry's smile grow even wider.

"I'm glad, honestly. I was worried there for a minute that things wouldn't turn out alright." Then he paused. "I know you said not to pursue the bounty but uh... If I just wanted to go check up on them now, would that be alright?"

The Raven Queen looked him over for a moment and then chuckled before patting him on the head.

"Yes, my Reaper. But do avoid dying. It would complicate things."


End file.
